# "Can't you read the sign?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340 "2015-01-20T01:41:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/41 "2015-01-20T19:33:38Z")
> [@Squall Winds](#): > > Ironically enough, my sign actually gets noticed. I frequently have people read, then stop to have a chat with me about my cause. Is their first question “What are you protesting?”, or “Do you work here?” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![DoggyDunnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@DoggyDunnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoggyDunnit)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/42 "2015-01-20T19:34:09Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Don’t give me that, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings! 😃 Thanks for the laugh, I needed that after the stressful morning I had. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/43 "2015-01-20T19:38:16Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > this thread confuses me. what are you protesting, and why does it matter that the closed restaurant is vegan? He’s protesting the fact that he can’t get a satisfying vegan meal on Mondays. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/44 "2015-01-20T19:38:51Z")
> [@Squall Winds](#): > > 😃 > > Thanks for the laugh, I needed that after the stressful morning I had. 🙂 Sign gettin heavy? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/45 "2015-01-20T19:52:19Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Is their first question “What are you protesting?”, or “Do you work here?” Or perhaps- “Is that restaurant open on Mondays?”😛 ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/46 "2015-01-20T20:00:35Z")
I’m one of those people who’s terrible at looking around and seeing restaurant signs/“keep off the grass” posts/the ketchup in the front of the fridge/the keys that are literally _right there_. I’ve actually spent decent amounts of time trying to find my glasses when I was wearing them. I honestly _try_ to be more aware - it’s just that sometimes my eyes kind of skirt over things. > [@DrDeth](#): > > No insult meant but trust me, if you think that’s a insult…stay out of the PIT. . . . Sorry, this is the Pit? Huh. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/47 "2015-01-20T20:17:57Z")
Truth is, regardless of how big the sign is or its lettering, when I’m approaching an establishment, particularly one that I’ve been in before, and it’s during normal business hours when you’d expect the place to be open, I’m not looking at the front of the door for a sign confirming or correcting my assumption that they’re open. My mind is probably on fifteen other things and while I may be looking in the direction of the front of the store (or diner, or whatever), it’s only so that I know when to reach out and pull the door handle. As far as I’m concerned signs are most useful when they give me the answer to something I need. Where are the new releases? Oh- over by the “NEW RELEASES” sign. How do I get out of here? Ah- an EXIT sign, there we go. Etc. When I’m accosted by more and more signs thrust into my field of vision vying for my attention, my subconscious response is to just not see them or pay attention to them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/48 "2015-01-20T20:42:46Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > . . . Sorry, this is the Pit? Huh. Nope, it’s MPSIMS. 😛 I was warning the newbie to stay out of our PIT forum if he was thin-skinned. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/49 "2015-01-20T20:46:53Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > I did something like that at the sportsmens shows and got the shock of my life. I had these small boxes of five fishing flies each already matched up and made a big sign > Show Special > $2.79 a box or > 3 for $10 > > I was always amazed how many folks handed me a ten-spot, took three boxes, and never said a word. Did you work in Miggle’s Emporium? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/50 "2015-01-20T21:21:01Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Much funnier version.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLm3HMG8IhM) > Turn off the sound and just enjoy the signs. I noted the “Big Dick’s Halfway Inn”. There is an actual business just south of Fairbanks, AK called [Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn](http://www.skinnydicks.net/). Our street is a designated bicycle route. There are all sorts of speed humps, choke points, and bikes painted on the street. About a block from us is a bike/pedestrian crossing. There are four different signs telling people in cars on the cross street that there are no right or left turns onto our street at that intersection. Additionally, there are strategically placed humps that are studded with flexible red tubing to let people know that there is no turning. The driving lane at that point on our street narrows to a single lane. Yet people routinely drive over the humps and dodge the tubing because of the stupid. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/51 "2015-01-20T21:27:54Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Our street is a designated bicycle route. There are all sorts of speed humps, choke points, and bikes painted on the street. About a block from us is a bike/pedestrian crossing. There are four different signs telling people in cars on the cross street that there are no right or left turns onto our street at that intersection. Additionally, there are strategically placed humps that are studded with flexible red tubing to let people know that there is no turning. The driving lane at that point on our street narrows to a single lane. Yet people routinely drive over the humps and dodge the tubing because of the stupid. Yesbut the cyclists ride on the sidewalk anyway, so… 😛 :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/52 "2015-01-20T21:36:50Z")
The thing about signs is that our world is plastered with text. Signs are everywhere, and if we stopped to read each and every sign we’d move at a literal snail’s pace. And so everyone ignores most signs, because there’s no other option, signs are just part of the ignorable background noise of life. But that trains your brain to ignore signs, except sometimes the signs really are important and you really do have to read them. So complaining that people didn’t notice the “road closed” or “push door to enter” sign doesn’t make sense. There are hundreds of ads that you walk by every day without reading them, so why should you expect people to read the one sign they were supposed to read while ignoring all the other ones? ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/53 "2015-01-20T22:02:57Z")
I used to work at a small zoo, which was broadly divided into two sections, a large building, and outside area. The door to outside had ‘Outdoor exhibits this way’ written on it, and at least once a day someone would walk up to it, stare for a second, then ask me “Are the outside exhibits this way?” I always smiled and answered “No”, and every time, they looked confused for a second, then laughed and walked out the door. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/54 "2015-01-20T23:38:05Z")
Didn’t we have an entire thread just a few weeks ago, about some idjit in a fast-food place who walked up to a closed register that was posted “Closed” and waited there indefinitely long, eventually engaging clerks and managers with idjit complaints? ETA: Here it is. [I stood next to the Emperor of the World at McDonald’s!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=152737). Actually, not recent at all, but I saw it recently because someone linked to it. Fun thread. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/55 "2015-01-20T23:42:59Z")
I don’t know about that, but Sauron’s [Emperor of the world](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=152737) thread is a classic ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/56 "2015-01-20T23:43:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I don’t know about that, but Sauron’s [Emperor of the world](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=152737) thread is a classic Aha. **Leaffan** ninjas my ETA above. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/57 "2015-01-20T23:49:29Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Aha. **Leaffan** ninjas my ETA above. Damn you **Senegoid**! ETA: Oh, wait. I ninja’d you? Never mind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/58 "2015-01-21T00:17:35Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Having spent the total amount of a couple years working retail, I am of the opinion that people simply do not read signs. I think you could put up a sign on the door that read “Ask cashier for free $100” and you would get maybe one person asking every day that sign is up. I used to work at a gas station. When one of the pumps was out of order we’d bag the nozzles off & put an **Out-of-Order** sign on it. I’d always print off the sign tape to the pump covering up the keypad & call buttons. And by tap mean duct tape along each edge. Despite this people would still pull up to the pump, take the bag off the nozzle, & try to peel back the sign to use the pump. :dubious: Sometimes they’d come inside and ask us to turn the pump on or why wasn’t it working. Or instead of coming in they’d press the Help button and/or just stand there motioning with their hands. I remember one particularly obnoxious soccer bitch from New York who just kept pressing the Help button and waving her hands angrily in the air after even I told her over the loudspeaker that pump was out of order and politely asked her to move to another pump. We were really busy (inside & out at the time), and I guess she just wanted us to magically make the pump work so she wouldn’t have to wait. Eventually I asked her point blank, _over the loudspeaker_, what part of “That pump is out of order, please move to another” did she not understand and if she noticed bags she ripped off or the sign she ripped off. 😃 She stormed in, but turn around once some of the other customers started clapping or hooting at her. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/59 "2015-01-21T00:37:00Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > The thing about signs is that our world is plastered with text. Signs are everywhere, and if we stopped to read each and every sign we’d move at a literal snail’s pace. And so everyone ignores most signs, because there’s no other option, signs are just part of the ignorable background noise of life. But that trains your brain to ignore signs, except sometimes the signs really are important and you really do have to read them. > > So complaining that people didn’t notice the “road closed” or “push door to enter” sign doesn’t make sense. There are hundreds of ads that you walk by every day without reading them, so why should you expect people to read the one sign they were supposed to read while ignoring all the other ones? I think some of us have mastered the art of editing; I can actually read the newspaper, watch TV and navigate in the world while ignoring ads and noticing things that I need to notice. Is that an unusual talent? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340/60 "2015-01-21T00:59:02Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > I did something like that at the sportsmens shows and got the shock of my life. I had these small boxes of five fishing flies each already matched up and made a big sign > Show Special > $2.79 a box or > 3 for $10 > > I was always amazed how many folks handed me a ten-spot, took three boxes, and never said a word. some people dislike pocket change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-you-read-the-sign/710340.md?page=4)